After The Storm
by oxymoroff
Summary: Meiko was fairly used to finding the occasional sea creature washed up on the shore, however, she was not expecting a merman to be among those. Kaimei.
1. Chapter 1

Meiko lived in a small apartment complex by the beach so it wasn't a rare occurrence for her to find the occasional sea creature or two washed up on the beach after a rough storm. She walked its shores often and, although she was never a particularly sympathetic person towards other humans, she was rather fond of animals and would try her best to save those that she could.

Last night an especially violent storm had passed through the area so she made a point of walking along the shore on her way home from work to check out the damage. At most, she expected to find a few fish or other small aquatic animals that had lost their way. But what she found instead, washed up on the shore, tangled in a fishing net and bleeding profusely from its side, was a mermaid. No, that wasn't quite right. It was a merman.

The merman seemed to be unconscious but she approached him cautiously just to be safe. Growing up, Meiko had heard many stories from the neighboring houses about mermaids that could lure you to your death through their enchanting voices. Of course, she was an adult now, and had long ago stopped believing in the fairy tales her elderly neighbors had told her, but on the other hand, against all odds, there was a merman lying right in front of her at this moment.

"Better to be safe than sorry." She mumbled under her breath as she inched closer to the unconscious sea creature warily.

His dark blue hair fell just over his closed eyes and his fin glittered in the soft moonlight, a light blue reminiscent of the sky on cloudless days. A sudden urge came over her to slide her hand along the scales, to see how they felt beneath her palm. She reached out slightly, but just as she was about to touch him, the merman stirred. His eyes snapped open and he began thrashing about in a sorry attempt to free himself from the fishing net and get away from the strange being next to him.

"Hey-!" Meiko began, but fell back as his fin smacked her in the face. She stood up, holding a hand to her mangled cheek. "I am TRYING to help you here! Was that really fuckin necessary?!" She had always been rather quick to lose her temper, and it usually resulted badly, but the merman grew noticeably calmer. Whether out of fear or understanding, she certainly didn't know, but she assumed it was most likely the former.

She squatted down next to him, blowing some stray hairs out of her eyes. "I'm a crazy lady yelling at a majestic creature. Some first impression I must have made on you, huh?"

Deep blue eyes stared back at her blankly.

"You probably don't even speak English, do you?" She sighed resting her head in her hand.

"Hh-elp" The merman said softly, moving his arms about in the net and motioning to his side, where blood was still seeping from the gash.

"O-okay." Surprised by the fact that the creature before her happened to know any words at all, Meiko drew nearer, slowly so as not to startle him. "Yeah, I can do that. But don't you dare slap me in the face again, you hear? I happen to be quite fond of it."

She helped him sit up as best he could manage and freed him from the net. His skin was unnaturally warm, and perhaps it was just a mermaid thing, but she figured he probably had a fever thanks to his wound.

Meiko moved closer to him. "I'm going to try and carry you, is that alright?"

He nodded, the faintest of smiles tugging at the corners of his lips.

She wedged her arms underneath him and stood up slowly. "Wow. You're a lot lighter than I thought you'd be."

Luckily, Meiko happened to get out of work at an ungodly hour when practically everyone in her neighborhood was asleep, so no one saw the odd pair bumbling over to the apartment complex nearby.

Meiko sucked in a breath nervously, hoping no one happened to be roaming the halls at this time. She hoisted the merman up again in an attempt to get a better grip on him. In response, the merman wrapped his arms around her neck.

"Sorry, this is probably pretty uncomfortable for you, isn't it?" She gave him a sympathetic look as they finally made it to the door of her apartment. "Okay, I'm gonna have to put you down for a little bit."

She gently set the merman on the floor, his back propped up against the wall. He looked even more feverish now and it seemed as if he was struggling to keep his eyes open. She quickly unlocked the door and stepped in to turn the lights on and fill the bathtub. When she returned to bring him in, he was lolling over to one side, eyes closed. She lifted him into her arms once more and hurried over to the bathtub, carefully placing him in.

Rummaging through her small apartment, she was only able to find some gauze, bandages, and an antiseptic spray, but she figured that would have to do as she couldn't just wander into a hospital with a merman in tow and demand they care for him. They'd probably have him sent to a marine biology research center. She propped him up to keep his wound above water, disinfected it to the best of her abilities, pressed some gauze to it to staunch the bleeding which had all but stopped, and wrapped him in, perhaps a rather excessive amount of, bandages.

She brought a chair in and sat leaning forward against the rim of the bathtub. "Sure has been a long day." She yawned, and the merman stirred slightly, opening his eyes. She studied him for a little bit, marveling at his glistening scales and equally dazzling blue eyes. He had toned muscles, probably from all the swimming, and strong shoulders but a rather sweet looking face that greatly contrasted with the rest of him. He seemed to be looking her over as well and she suddenly felt ashamed for staring at him. She turned her head to the side, averting her eyes.

"Thank you." He finally spoke, disturbing the silence. He had a rather warm sounding voice, with its own kind of elegance, but she didn't think it really sounded like the type that could enchant someone and lure them to their death. And he certainly didn't seem like the sort of merman to do something like that in the first place.

She smiled slightly. "You're welcome. So, what's your name anyway? Mine's Meiko."

"Kaito." The merman – Kaito – replied, his eyes alight as he smiled contentedly and leaned back in the tub. They both fell silent and soon he fell asleep. Meiko followed quickly, deciding to stay near him in case something happened, she slept leaning against the bathtub with her face in her arms.

* * *

Just a KaiMei fanfiction I came up with pretty quickly. There will probably be more. I didn't have anyone proofread it so if you notice any mistakes feel free to point them out to me.


	2. Chapter 2

Kaito awoke feeling more tired than he'd ever felt in his life. His body still felt unnaturally warm and the gash in his side stung quite a bit. Not to mention, a bathtub wasn't exactly a comfortable place to sleep for a full grown merman. He stretched as best as he could manage in his limited space, being careful so as not to reopen his wound. Turning slightly, he noticed that Meiko was still sitting next to him, her face cradled in her arms, which had probably gone numb thanks to the uncomfortable sleeping position.

A smile crept up on his lips as he leaned his head on the rim of the bathtub to rest in front of hers. As a child, the elder mermaids had told him many tales about the hazards that humans were. "They have loud, booming voices that can make your ears bleed," and "The nails on their fingers, and especially their toes, are razor sharp," and even "The hair that grows on their legs sting like a jellyfish's tentacles." Now, having a human before him, he had trouble believing those tales. _Most of them, anyway_. He wasn't going to discredit the one about their booming voices just yet, because her voice had gotten rather loud when he hit her with his tail fin yesterday.

Meiko shifted her head, groaning softly. He noticed that there was a scratch across her cheek and he felt even worse about how he slapped her. He reached a hand out gingerly, trying not to wake her, and placed it just over the scratch. A soft melody emitted from somewhere deep in his throat and a light blue glow spread from the tips of his webbed fingers to the small cut across her cheek. In a matter of moments, the cut sealed and it was gone without a single trace.

His hand lingered on her face for a moment; it looked a lot softer in her sleep. He'd only just met her but she seemed to have an eternal crease between her brows in her waking moments. She had soft brown hair that came down to her chin and fierce brown eyes. He'd never seen anyone with brown hair up close before. Brown was a rather uncommon color where he lived. Most merpeople's hair and eyes came in vibrant colors like blue, red, orange, yellow, green, sometimes even a jet black. A merchild born with brown hair was believed to be a descendant of humans; sometimes the child's mother would be accused of mating with a human and would be forced to leave the pod. Kaito had always thought that was an awfully harsh punishment. Seeing it in person, he thought brown hair was beautiful.

Suddenly, Meiko opened her eyes. "Mmm, what time is it?" she mumbled groggily, rubbing her eyes and standing up from the chair. "God, my neck is killing me. So, how are you holding up?"

Kaito stared at her blankly for a moment. "Ummm, what do you mean… by… 'holding up'?" He spoke slowly, not quite accustomed to speaking like a human.

"Feeling. How are you feeling?" Meiko gestured enthusiastically as she spoke, as if doing so would somehow help him understand better. "Y'know, does your wound still hurt?"

He smiled. _Humans had some strange habits._ "Yes, it does still sting quite a bit. But it is not infected thanks to you. You have my gratitude, queen Meiko." He bowed his head, smiling humbly.

"Wait, _what_?" She sat down so her face was level with his. "Why '_queen_'? I mean, I'm certainly not _opposed_ to the title, I find it rather fitting myself-" she trailed off for a moment, propping her head up with a hand. "But, really why are you calling me 'queen'?"

"Well, I assumed, since you are wearing a crown, and you own this building that is larger than all the other neighboring ones, that you were royalty of some kind…"

"What? No, this isn't a crown- It's just a headband and it happens to be gold colored." She took the headband out of her hair and handed it to him. "See? And also, I do not own this whole building. I own a very small part of it, but only temporarily. It's called rent- Are you even listening?"

The merman was now glancing around the small bathroom, entranced by all the foreign objects held within. "What do you call this?" He asked breathlessly, opening a bottle of shampoo and sniffing it. His blue eyes suddenly lit up. "It smells wonderful."

Meiko ran a hand through her hair. _Great. Just great. _"That's called shampoo. It's for washing your hair-"

He tipped the bottle back, trying to get the sweet smelling pink gel into his open mouth.

"Hey!" She quickly snatched the bottle out of his hands and set it down out of his reach. "That is not food okay? Are you hungry?"

"Now that you mention it, I guess I am."

"Okay, well what do you eat?"

"Fish, oysters, shrimp, sometimes squid but they are hard to catch unless you are in a group."

"Alright, so I'll just bring you a bunch of seafood I guess." She stared at him wearily. "I don't know if I trust you being here by yourself."

"Do not worry. I shall be fine on my own."

Meiko grumbled something under her breath incoherently and left the room. "Don't try to eat anything else in there!" She called from down the hallway just before the door slammed shut.

* * *

Kaito sat still for little while but began surveying the room once he was sure she wasn't going to come back all of the sudden and catch him snooping around. It was a very interesting room. It seemed humans had the power to control water at will. Meiko turned a knob earlier and it had caused water to pour out into a bowl.

He grabbed the bar of soap next to him and sniffed it. It smelled alright, not as good as the pink gel from before, but it had a fragrant smell to it. He squeezed his hand around it and the bar of soap slipped out, hit the ceiling, and came down, just narrowly missing his head.

Startled, the merman nearly fell out of the bathtub. Whatever that thing was, it seemed dangerous.

* * *

Meiko walked into the apartment complex, numerous shopping bags in hand, as she fiddled for her keys. Her shopping trip had been rather quick, as she had no idea what kind of miscief the merman sitting in her bathtub would be up to in her absence.

Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind, wrapping their arms around her waist. "Heeeyyyy, Meiko!"

Meiko turned around, though she really didn't need to in order to guess who it was that had suddenly attacked her. "Jesus, Miku, do you have to be so loud so early in the morning?"

Miku smiled. "It isn't even morning! It's noon already!"

"Yeah, well, it's morning for me." She grumbled.

Miku lived in the apartment right next to Meiko's. She was an excitable 16 year old with long teal colored hair that was usually put up in twintails. She had always insisted to Meiko that teal was her natural hair color but she had had a rather hard time believing her. Now, having seen a mythical creature that wasn't supposed to exist, the idea didn't seem quite so ridiculous. She lived on her own despite being so young and Meiko had never really bothered to question why, she just looked out for her and made sure she always had enough to eat and some company every once in a while.

"So, what have you got there?" Miku asked, releasing her hold on Meiko and looking over at all the bags in her hands.

"Oh… just… some food." Meiko continued walking to her apartment hurriedly. "Don't worry about it. I'll see ya later, Miku!" She waved just before closing the door.

"Hey, Kaito, I'm back!" She called from the entrance, kicking off her shoes and walking over to the bathroom. "I didn't know which kind of fish you preferred so I bought a bunch of different types and-"

The merman sat up straight and smiled innocently. He coughed and a few bubbles escaped his lips. "That shampoo stuff really did not taste very good, Meiko."

* * *

The two had finished eating and Meiko had cleared up their mess for them. "So, what is it like? Living in the ocean, I mean?"

"Well, I have known no other way of living until now, so I am not sure that I can describe it to you properly." Kaito began, staring at his webbed hands in concentration. "But a great many things are very different about our lifestyles."

"Yeah, no kidding." Meiko scoffed. "I specifically told you not to eat my shampoo."

"I already apologized for that!" He groaned indignantly. Hiding his face in his arms, as his cheeks turned pink.

"I'm joking, don't worry about it!" She laughed, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth.

His head came back up and he grabbed hold of her hand suddenly. "Your nails." He slid his hand underneath hers so he could get a better look. "They're red!"

She blushed slightly at the sudden contact. "Yeah… You can paint them different colors using nail polish."

The merman's eyes brightened at that. "Do you think you could paint mine?!"

"I guess so… What color do you want? Blue?"

"No. I think I like red."

* * *

**(A/N)**: This is going a lot slower than I had originally planned, I didn't wanna pile on too much mermaid folklore just yet. (I actually did a bit of research about them, though.)  
I hope you are enjoying this anyway!

You have no idea how many times I was singing "Under The Sea" in my head while writing this.

Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Kaito held his hands in front of his face, staring triumphantly at his glistening red fingernails. He turned to look at Meiko. "Thank you! You are really good at this!" He beamed, going back to staring at his nails, contentedly wiggling his fingers.

"I've had years of practice." She rolled her eyes but couldn't help the smile quirking up the corners of her lips. "I used to paint my little brother's nails too. But he was a much more unwilling test subject." She stood up to put the bottle of nail polish back in its place.

"Oh? You have a brother?" He leaned over the side of the bathtub, placing his head in his hands.

"Yeah. We used to fight a lot but I'd always beat him up." She laughed, sitting down and reclining back on the chair.

He wasn't sure whether to be scared or laugh with her. Where is he now?"

"Oh, he's living on his own now too. He visits sometimes." She turned her head to look at him. "Do you have any siblings?"

Kaito became visibly uncomfortable at the question. He fidgeted, clasping his hands together and staring down at them. "I do. I have a little sister… But I never actually got the chance to meet her."

"I'm sorry… I didn't think…" Meiko looked surprised, wishing she hadn't asked, but couldn't help being curious despite herself. "Is she… dead?"

At that, the merman raised his head again. "No. At least- I hope not…" He reached out suddenly, gently taking a lock of her hair in his hand. "You know, brown hair and eyes are very unusual among my people."

She looked puzzled at the sudden change of subject, but didn't interrupt.

"When a child is born with brown hair, their mother is accused of mating with a human. And our leaders force them both to leave and fend on their own. " He looked down sadly, lowering his hand.

She looked even more confused now. _Were they so afraid of humans that they would do that to their own kind? _She was surprised Kaito had even let her help him after learning this.

"But, even more so than just having brown hair, there is an easier way to determine whether or not a mermaid has mated with a human." He continued uncertainly. "You see, from what I hear, my little sister had a normal hair color for a mermaid, but she was born without gills. Or even fins of any kind… She was born with a pair of legs and feet and could not possibly have survived under water. She was almost completely human."

Meiko stared almost disbelievingly. "Wow… Okay, I was not expecting to hear something like that."

"Not only did my mother have an illegitimate child; she had an illegitimate child _with a human_. Naturally, they were both kicked out and I never saw them again."

"What do you mean, '_naturally_'?! That isn't how things should work!" She was practically seething with anger, but having no one to vent it out on; she got up and began pacing the small bathroom. She stopped abruptly. "Wait, is that what you were doing out in the storm last night? Looking for them or something?"

He couldn't help but smile. "Oh no! It has been many years since then. She's probably a few years younger than you by now."

She glared. "You callin' me old?"

The merman raised his hands in front of himself in defense. "No! No, I would never _dream_ of-"

Her glare deepened as she brought her face up close to his, brown eyes locking onto startled blue. "If that isn't it, then what exactly _were_ you doing so close to shore during that storm, huh?"

"I was… running from something…" _I _am_ running from something._

"What from?"

"Ah… I can't really say."

Deciding she had pried into the merman's privacy enough for one day, she walked out of the bathroom and returned carrying a bundle of clothes. "I'm gonna go use my neighbor's shower. I'll tell her there's a leak here or something- Please don't eat anymore soap."

His lips turned down in a pout and she laughed as she left the room.

* * *

She felt refreshed after finally being able to shower. She opened the door to her apartment, a soft melody emitted from within. _Kaito was singing. _She closed the door behind her and stood in the hallway for a had a sweet voice, calm and soothing. _Almost captivating_. She walked over to the bathroom.

"I know that song." She said, leaning against the doorway. "You're not one of those mermaids that drags people to their death with a song are you?"

The merman opened his eyes, smiling at her shyly. "Of course not! You're thinking of Sirens; they do that. I'm just a regular merman." His tail squirmed about. "They are also much more grotesque looking, I'll have you know. More fish than man, really- How do you know that song?"

She ran a hand through her hair, sitting close to him again once she made sure he wasn't about to try and enchant her. _Perhaps he already had, though. _"A friend of mine, she taught it to me. She loves marine biology. I don't know, though, is it possible that humans could have recorded a song from your people?"

He leaned back in the bathtub. "Humans are strange. I would not know."

She got up and left the room. He heard rustling down the hallway and it sounded like she was rummaging through something and throwing things. She came back holding a strange, glossy wooden object. The top part was pear shaped with a hole in the middle, but it extended out into a straight wooden piece that had strings attached to it.

"_What is that?_" Kaito asked breathlessly, blue eyes alight as he stared at the foreign object in her hands.

"It's called a guitar." She answered, sitting in place and strumming the instrument. "Damn, it's way out of tune. It's for making music, but I haven't used it in a _long_ time." She began turning the small nobs at the end and strummed a few more times. "Much better. Do merpeople have any instruments?"

"Not really… You see, many sounds do not resonate under water too well. We have drums, but not much else for making music. We all learn to sing at rather young ages, though. But singing underwater is very different from on land. Human ears would not be able to hear our singing in the water. Or our speech. Learning how to speak like a human was quite a difficult task, my mother went through a great deal of trouble to teach it to me." He laughed ruefully. "I guess it was quite obvious from the start that she had had contact with humans."

Meiko smiled somewhat sadly. She had certainly caught an interesting merman. "Sing again and I'll accompany you."

He brightened up, sitting straight and clearing his throat. He began that soft melody again, a hint of sorrow in his voice. It was a song about hoping for a better future from the depths of the ocean; a song of longing. She strummed the guitar softly in time with his singing, joining him in the second verse. Their voices mixed perfectly, a harmony of sorrow and hope, of power and sweetness.

They sang the last few verses and the room became quiet.

"You have a beautiful voice." He said quietly, seemingly staring at anything but Meiko.

Meiko smiled shyly. "Not compared to yours."

Their eyes met, and the light pink glow was apparent on both their faces. The merman grinned, the dimples on his cheeks showing. "Thank you."

She got up suddenly, propping the guitar up on a wall. "You know- I had an idea earlier, but we aren't going to be able to do it until nighttime."

His eyes widened. He had to admit, he was rather disappointed that their moment of- whatever it was; he didn't want to analyze anything too closely yet- was interrupted. But he was definitely curious. "What is it?"

"It's a surprise!" She beamed, placing her hands on her hips.

* * *

**(A/N): **Well this chapter was really dialogue heavy… I hope a few of your questions were explained. Also, I've pretty much been making up all of the mermaid folklore for this fic. I just researched to make sure I'm not completely twisting everything up and straying too far from the original ideas behind merpeople.

By the way, the song they sang is So-La 2013 by Shu-t featuring KAITO V3 and MEIKO. It's one of the mish-mash of things that inspired this fic. (I highly recommend giving it a listen if you haven't already.)

Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Meiko had been over at her friend's apartment for the last 2 hours or so trying to convince him to let her borrow something she desperately needed for her 'surprise.' "C'mon, Gakupo, there's no need to ask so many questions. You know I won't do anything reckless!" _Not sure about my aquatic friend, though. _"You've let me before."

He gave her a sideways glance, tying his long purple hair into a ponytail as he usually wore it. "As I recall, you had blackmailed me."

Meiko snorted. "Yeah, I guess I might have…" She straightened up, her face serious again. "But, I'm a changed woman, okay? You can trust me!" She followed him as he walked into his kitchen, setting a pan on the stove.

A long sigh escaped his lips. "Alright, alright! I'm expecting some company so just get out of here already." He handed her a set of keys and turned the burner on. "And don't do anything irresponsible!"

"Ooh, your girlfriend coming over?" Meiko teased, taking the keys from him.

"Whatever, just go already. Sheesh."

Meiko smiled. "Thanks! I'll pay you back for it okay?"

He laughed. "_Sure _you will. See you later, Meiko."

She waved, closing the door as she left his apartment.

* * *

She walked into her bathroom, noticing an inch or two of water covering the tiled floor just as she opened the door. "Oh great. Wonderful." She deadpanned, rubbing her temples. "Kaito, what have you been doing now?" She looked up noticing that the merman's long tail was sticking out of the bathtub while his torso and face were submerged under water. She chuckled, coming up closer to the bathtub. "Just what are you doing?"

He stuck his head out, pushing his soaked blue locks out of his face. "Well, the top half of me was feeling a little dry…"

"Yeah, but doesn't it hurt to be laying like that? Have you healed already?"

He laughed somewhat nervously. _Oh, yeah. Right… The injury. _"Well, uh… Not quite. It still hurts quite a bit actually."

"Do you want me to change the bandages for you?"

"No! No- it is alright. I shall be fine, thank you."

"Okaay then." She said a bit suspiciously, taking a seat next to him.

"So… What was that surprise you mentioned to me earlier?" The merman sat up straight once more.

"Oh well-" She stopped midsentence, staring at the merman. "What is _that_?" She pointed to his chest.

He looked down, noticing the small marking just over his heart, a tattoo made of swirls. Curling, and glowing a soft blue. He squeaked, jumping up and practically falling out of the tub. His cheeks turned a dark red. "It- It's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"What do you mean 'It's nothing'?! Maybe it's normal for mermaids but I've never seen anything like that before! What does it mean?" She scooted in closer and, without warning, ran a finger over the marking. The blue glow became brighter.

The merman squeaked again, hiding his hands in his face. "No, don't touch it!" Came the muffled voice from underneath his webbed hands. "You will only make it worse!" He groaned, grabbing a hold of her hand and moving it away. The glow dimmed.

She smirked mischievously, reaching out with the other hand.

"No, really stop it." He tried to keep a stern look, holding both her hands in place, but his cheeks were still pink. Honestly, she doubted this gentle merman could ever truly be intimidating.

"I will if you tell me what it means." She yanked her arms back, trying to free herself. The chair slid from under her and she fell back, taking the merman with her.

He landed half on top of her; his cheeks grew bright red as he tried to keep his erratic heartbeat under control.

"Hey, get up already."

"S-sorry. It's just… You smell really nice. Err- I uh- I did not mean to say that." He squirmed off of her as best he could and sat up.

She sat next to him. "I need to change my clothes now. There's water all over the floor, thanks to a certain merman." She laughed, smoothing her damp hair back in place. "And thanks." She blushed slightly, crouching next to him. "Do you need help getting back in the tub?"

Kaito laughed. "Yeah, that would be helpful."

* * *

"Okay, Kaito, let's go!" Meiko walked into the room, clothes changed and a bag in hand.

"Go?" The merman looked surprised. "Where are we going?"

"Oh, you'll see." She walked up to the tub and extended her arms toward him.

He couldn't help the blush that spread on his cheeks as he wrapped his arms around her neck when she picked him up out of the bathtub. _I'm done for. _He thought, biting his lip and burying his face into the crook of her shoulder and neck.

"The stars are really bright today." She looked up at the sky as they left the apartment complex. "It looks beautiful."

He looked up at her face, her eyes shining and a warm smile on her face. "Yeah."

She looked down at him. "You know, this is a fairly abandoned road we're taking, so I didn't come up with a plan in case someone happens to see us. Or… you mostly."

He swallowed thickly, latching on tighter to her. "Then let us hope that does not happen."

They arrived at a rather large building and she set him down for a moment to unlock the door.

"What is this place?"

"You'll see." She held the door open and picked him up again.

They stepped inside and he was hit with an overwhelming stench. "What is that smell?"

"It's chlorine. People use it to clean things."

"I don't like it." He groaned, burying his face in her shoulder again.

"Well, you're gonna have to get used to it for now." They passed by a tiled room with showers and stalls and entered another larger room.

Kaito brought his face back out and saw a large rectangular pit, that took up most of the space in the room, filled with very unnatural looking blueish green water. The stench was even stronger here than it had been near the entrance.

"It's called a pool." Meiko explained, upon noticing the disturbed expression on his face. "We use it to swim in."

"Why not just use the ocean?" The merman asked, looking appalled by the thought that humans would use this when they had a perfectly good ocean to swim in.

"Well, uh. It sometimes gets too cold to swim there and some people prefer to not be in the hot sun, and sometimes the ocean gets pretty dirty…"

"And whose fault is that?!"

"You got me there. But whatever, I'm gonna put you in there so you can swim, okay? Just be careful not to reopen your wound." She walked over to the edge of the pool, crouching down.

"It smells bad. I don't want to go in." He whined, tightening his hold on her.

"Quit complaining. You want to be able to stretch don't you?"

"I guess…" He pouted. "Go in with me!"

"No. I didn't bring a change of clothes or anything." She slid him into the water tail first and set her bag off to the side. She sat near the edge and the merman's arms wrapped around her suddenly, pulling her into the pool with him.

* * *

**(A/N): **Sorry this one took so long! I had midterms to work on and then I was doing some art stuff.

Askkaimei's mod on tumblr drew some fanart for this fic and i nearly freaking cried holy shit. I tried to post the link but I freaking can't. well, that sucks.

If you've got a tumblr and you're not following them, you totally should. It's a great askblog!

Thank you so much for all the support so far!


	5. Chapter 5

Meiko flailed about, inhaling a mouthful of chlorinated water before realizing that she had been pulled into the shallow end and her feet easily touched the bottom of the pool. She stood up abruptly, coughing up water and wet hair sticking to her face, not quite masking the glare aimed at a certain merman who had just pulled her into the pool, clothes and all.

Kaito stood motionless, trying desperately not to laugh should he anger her even more. "I am sorry…?" He said meekly, holding his hands out in front of him in defense.

She pushed her soaked hair out of her face and lunged forward, trying to grab a hold of the merman and get her revenge. "You little-!"

He dodged her attack, easily gliding through the water as she kept trudging through the pool after him.

She stopped suddenly.

Kaito poked his head out of the water and was immediately slapped in the face by a wet shirt. He pulled it off of his face and noted that Meiko had also taken off her pants and was now proceeding to throw them over the edge of the pool.

"You're lucky I didn't have my phone in my pocket or I really would have killed you, Fishboy." She grumbled.

Kaito swam up next to her. "I am sorry, please don't be mad. I just wanted to swim with you." He pouted innocently, his blue eyes looking impossibly bright and big.

"Okay okay, whatever, I'm not mad just stop with the pouting. It's grossing me out a little." Meiko grimaced, wading over to the deeper end of the pool. "I don't actually know how to swim, so sorry to disappoint you there."

Kaito followed. "You live right by the ocean and you do not know how to swim?!" He gasped, seeming particularly offended by this new piece of information.

"Yeah, I've just kinda always gotten by with doggy paddling..." She trailed off, feeling a bit embarrassed having to admit such a thing.

"What does that mean?" The merman questioned, tilting his head.

"You know, like how a dog swims?"

"What is a dog?"

"God, this conversation is going nowhere, Merman. Look, the point is that I don't know how to swim."

He looked pensive for a moment. "I could teach you!" He brightened up suddenly, swimming a circle around Meiko.

"I'm not sure that's a great idea. Many people have tried and it didn't end well. For them."

"They were probably teaching you all wrong. Who better to learn to swim from than a merman?" He retorted, flipping his fins, a proud sparkle in his blue eyes.

"Well, I guess you do have a point there. I can't promise you I won't try to hit you, though. My fight response just kinda takes over if I feel like I'm drowning."

"I will be gentle." He teased, grinning stupidly.

"I already feel like hitting you." 

After several failed attempts and a lot of flailing about in the water, the pair realized that it was really not so easy for a merman to teach a human how to swim.

"You just have to move your fins like this, see!" Kaito flowed through the water with ease, his tail slicing the water with such grace and fluidity. "It's easy!"

"For the last time, Fishboy, they are legs! Not fins! And they definitely can't move the way you do."

Kaito ran his fingers through his hair. "Arrgh, this is a lot harder than I thought it would be!" He stilled, staring down at his glossy red nails and the webbing between each of his fingers. "We really are very different, he mumbled under his breath.

Meiko moved closer "What'd you say?" She tilted her head to the side. "I think I got water in my ears."

He brightened up suddenly. "Nothing. Nevermind it. I have a better idea!"

He swam close, suddenly scooping Meiko up into his arms.

"You always help me get around on land, so I can help you in the water!" He spun around so Meiko was laying on top of him as he kept them afloat.

She felt disoriented for a moment, but once she got over her initial shock she found herself staring down into impossibly blue eyes that were entirely too close to her own face for comfort.

He stared back at her, just now realizing exactly what he had done and marveling at the slight flush of her cheeks, knowing that surely his were turning quite red themselves. He leaned up, closing his eyes and tentatively pressing his forehead to hers, murmuring something she couldn't quite catch under his breath. He had quite a habit of doing that.

She noticed a glowing light between them and realized that it was the tattoo on his chest flaring up again.

"Hey, Kaito…" She said softly, causing the merman to open his eyes and notice the glow. He thrashed about suddenly, Meiko falling into the water in the process.

She resurfaced, coughing up water out of her lungs for the second time that day. She slicked her hair back, staring at him blankly.

"Waah!" He cried. "I'm sorry! I just got a little startled."

"So are you gonna tell me what that tattoo means?"

"I umm…" His blue eyes shifted to the side, looking anywhere but back at Meiko. "I actually do not completely know what it means myself."

"But you've got an idea, dontcha?" She leaned in close and poked the tattoo on his chest. It flared up once more beneath her fingertip.

"Eek!" He flinched, ducking most of his head underwater. "Stop doing that." He muttered almost unintelligibly, bubbles rising up in the water surrounding his mouth.

"I promise to stop if you tell me what it means." She batted her eyelashes innocently.

The merman rose out of the water and let out a long, exasperated sigh. "You are really not being fair." He pouted, tracing over the marking on his chest with a finger. "...All I know is that it is some kind of seal and it is supposed to protect me. Or so I was told." He looked up into her eyes. "Why it glows when I get near you is beyond me."

He swam closer to her, the pool completely quiet and still save for the two bodies in the water, breathing in time. A hesitant smile spread across the merman's lips, blue eyes becoming bright as he drew even closer. A webbed hand rose up out of the water and he cupped her cheek gently, pushing back stray strands of hair that were sticking to the side of her face.

She inhaled sharply, pink dusting her cheeks and her eyes glued to his.

"It never happened until I met you." He whispered and she could feel his warm breath on her face. "I'm a little scared but I want to know more about you." The way he said the words made them seem like they had a deeper sort of connotation, as though he were using them as a substitute for the words he really wanted to say.

"So do it." She whispered back, planting the palm of her hand on his chest, feeling the warm skin and steady heartbeat beneath it. "I'm not scared." She smiled, a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

She leaned in close and Kaito closed his eyes instinctively, waiting with bated breath as…

Nothing happened.

"But you have to work for it." Meiko whispered near his ear, pulling away from him completely. She waded to the end of the pool, not able to contain her wry smile.

"Meiko that- That was- How could- That was just cruel!" He sputtered indignantly, his cheeks crimson, as she threw her head back and laughed. "I can't believe you!"

"Why? What'd you think was gonna happen?"

"Do not tease me like that!" He yelled, covering his face with his hands.

"I'll get the wrong idea." He muttered after a moment, dropping his hands to his sides.

"Have you ever been in love, Kaito?" Her question came out of nowhere, completely catching the merman off guard.

"I-" He paused for a moment, brow furrowed and face serious. "I suppose not. I mean, that is part of the reason I ran away."

"Oh?" She quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Nevermind. You dont need to know about that." He shook his head, clutching the back of his neck shyly.

"Hey, Kaito."

He looked up, blue eyes meeting hers.

"I want to know you too."

* * *

**(A/N):** I still love KaiMei I just tend to lose interest in writing for long periods of time and I'm really not confident in it and I am just a horrible person what can I say. I came back to this for the lovely people still leaving comments and favoriting and stuff. Thank you for that. Why are you still here?

Anyways... It's 5 AM.

Throw rocks at me at oxymoroff on tumblr if it will make you feel better. Or just talk to me about kaimei or smthing. Y'know, that's fine too.


End file.
